India will likely witness a record production of food grains this year, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said on Sunday.

Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of agriculture exposition 'Krishi Vasant' at Nagpur, Maharashtra-based Central Cotton Research Institute, Mr. Pawar said this year's food grains production would likely reach a record 263.2 million tonnes. Existing record of 259 million tones was set two years back.

Addressing a gathering at the 8th national Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVK) conference in Bangalore on Wednesday, Pawar said next two-three weeks will remain tough, adding that he favoured urgent import of onions from foreign countries.

Speaking on the topic, he said, "In my assessment; this situation will continue the next two-three weeks. I have instructed the managing director of NAFED that if there is a request from a state (for importing onions), we should be ready."

New Delhi, Sep 24 : India's grain production for the season will be 8.75 million tonnes higher than the average of 120.57 million tonnes and is expected to be 129.32 million tonnes, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said Tuesday.

Pawar said this on the basis of the first advance estimates of summer kharif crop production.

Observing that production and productivity of major crops have increased over the years, Pawar drew the attention to the rising demand of foodgrains, oilseeds, fruits and vegetables.

Lasalgaon wholesale market in Maharashtra received 9,000 quintals of onion yesterday, nearly double of the quantity that arrived at the market on Monday last week. It may be noted here that Lasalgaon is at Asia's biggest wholesale onion market.

Mumbai, June 7 : A slanging match erupted Friday between Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray over the status of the Mahalaxmi Race Course in south Mumbai.

Pawar, while speaking to mediapersons this afternoon, said that whenever Thackeray travels abroad, he comes up with new ideas on various topics.

He was referring to Thackeray's demand to convert the sprawling Mahalaxmi Race Court grounds into a world-class public garden and shifting the existing race course to another location.

Mumbai, April 13 : Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar Saturday said that Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's comments on drought-hit areas were "improper" and now that he has apologised, he should be forgiven.

"As the party president, I will say that Ajit Pawar's statement was improper and unfortunate. He should have been more careful given the position that he is in. Now that he has apologised, he should be forgiven," Pawar told reporter here.

Last week, Ajit Pawar shot his mouth off when he was asked to comment about protests in the drought-hit regions of Maharashtra.

A senior government panel constituted to look into the matter of allowing additional export of wheat from the country, has announced its decision to approve a plan to export 5 million tonne wheat from government storage facilities using private sector traders.

India's union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has claimed that the total food grain production in the country is expected to cross 250 million tonnes in 2012-13 crop year.

The comments are significant because large parts of the country was facing drought like situation in the previous year with government announcing special aid packages for affected areas. He pointed out that the current production is sufficient to meet the domestic demand and added that the second advance estimate will be released today.

The government officials have indicated that a minimum export price (MEP) are unlikely to be imposed on onions as the government believes that the recent hike in price is not due to demand factors but because of supply constraints.

India's union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has said that the government will not impose a ban on the export of onions even as the prices soar in the international markets.

Pawar responded to the plea by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit seeking a ban on the export of onions in order to control the rising prices in the country. The agriculture ministry turned down the request for a ban on exports while onions were selling between Rs. 30 and 40 per kg in the national capital.

New Delhi, Feb 1 : Expressing concern over steep rise in price of onions, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Friday said there is some fault in the retail market which needed to be checked out.

"The prices of onions should not be so high. Even after calculating the transport cost and taxes, the farmers get Rs. 1600 for hundred Kilograms, and those onions are being sold here for Rs. 35 per kilogram. There is definitely some fault in the retail, we need to find that fault," said Pawar, while speaking to reporters.

The union government has asked a senior panel of experts to revise the minimum rate of Wheat for the year 2012-13.

Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said today that government has not accepted the recommendation of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) to keep the minimum support price (MSP) of wheat unchanged for the year. the panel had recommended that the MSO of wheat should remain at Rs 1,285 per quintal.

The members of the oilseed industry have asked the government to increase the taxes on import on palm and other edible oils.

The industry is facing a difficult market condition due to a significant fall in global prices that affected domestic consumption. The palm oil stocks have risen in Southeast Asian countries and the prices have fallen by a fourth. This has made the conditions difficult for India as the country tries to prevent an inflow of cheap imports especially after Indonesia reduced its export taxes.

The Income-Tax (I-T) department has served notices on 56 co-operative sugar mills in Maharashtra, demanding the co-operatives to pay Rs 2500 crore in tax on "profits" their sugar mills pocketed since 2,000.

The Group of Ministers (GoM), headed by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, on the proposed National Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy are reportedly going to make some changes in its own earlier recommendations to ensure the availability of essential medicines at lower prices.

NCP Chief Sharad Pawar on Friday denied any link with BJP Chief Nitin Gadkari, but admitted that he had purchased shares in Ideal Road Builders (IRB) that had a stake in Gadkari's Purti Power and Sugar Ltd.

When asked about his participation in Gadkari's companies, Pawar said, "On IRB shares, if I or my wife has purchased shares of one particular company and sold it the next year, I don't understand how I am answerable for that."

Group of ministers (GoM) headed by Sharad Pawar has approved the modified land acquisition Bill called the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) Bill to govern the land transfers in the country.

The industry is not happy with the new bill as the cost of production will rise significantly. Larsen & Toubro said that the bill will result in an increase of Rs 4,500 crore for setting up a new airport construction project.

India’s union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar has said that the country’s total food grain production for this kharif season or summer crops is expected to fall 10 per cent mainly due to low monsoons and drought like situations in some of the states in the country.